


Running Down to the Riptide

by Dandy



Series: RinRei Week 2 [2]
Category: Free!
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Minor Violence, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-02
Updated: 2015-01-02
Packaged: 2018-03-04 21:58:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3092129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dandy/pseuds/Dandy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One day, Rin sees a strange man standing on the beach. Soon, he becomes obsessed with meeting that man.</p>
<p>Rei worries, because Rin isn't himself anymore. All he cares about is going down to search the beach.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Running Down to the Riptide

**Author's Note:**

> Written for RinRei Week Day 2. The prompt was "Reunited."
> 
> Today's title is from Vance Joy's "Riptide."

Rin’s jogging past the beach with Rei when he sees it the first time. 

It’s sunset and the warm light from the late summer sun is sparkling off the surface of the sea, causing it to glitter as the waves roll across the sand. When he notices a shadow, he looks over, instinctively, and sees what looks like a man, face shadowed where he faces Rin, so he can’t make out who it is. But for some reason, the man strikes him as familiar.

“Rin?”

He blinks, and the figure is gone. He cranes his neck back, wondering if he just missed him moving further down the beach, and almost collides with Rei, who’s stopped in front of him.

“Rin, what’s wrong? You slowed down.”

“Sorry, I was just… You didn’t see a guy, did you? Standing on the beach?”

Rei looks past him, out at the beach where he’d been staring, and frowns, puzzled.

“No, I don’t see anyone.”

“Huh.” Rin runs a hand through his hair, then shakes his head. “Must have imagined it. Come on, let’s keep going.”

“Okay.” Rei still looks a bit concerned, though, so Rin smirks and starts jogging ahead, glancing back at him.

“Hurry up, unless you want me to beat you back!”

Rei gives a start like he’s been slapped, then smirks back, running to catch up. “As if you could ever beat me on land, Matsuoka!”

They finish their jog with friendly banter and a goodbye kiss, and by the next day Rin’s forgotten the man by the water.

* * *

 

It’s a few days later and he’s standing under a pier with Rei, pressing heat and tongue and lust into his mouth, hand tangled in blue hair. Rei had been muttering something before about what if someone sees and they shouldn’t even be under the pier at all, but apparently he’s forgotten about his arguments in favor of tugging on Rin’s hips and grinding so hard he might be trying to fuse them together by force. 

And then Rin opens his eyes.

He can’t say why, but suddenly he looks past Rei, and sees him again, the man from before. Except, finally, he realizes why the man seemed familiar.

“Rin?”

Rei’s breath ghosts past his ear as he whispers, but his voice is laced with concern. Rin doesn’t look from the figure to Rei, however, instead moving Rei aside and detaching himself.

The man turns and walks away from the pier, and Rin abandons Rei, running after him.

“Rin!?” he hears Rei yell from behind him, but he doesn’t stop - he  _has_  to catch up to the man. But as soon as they leave the shadows of the pier, he’s gone again, like before. 

He jumps when Rei touches his shoulder. His boyfriend is giving him a worried look, obviously concerned.

“What  _happened_  back there?”

Rin turns back to him, eyes wide. “You didn’t see him!?”

“See who?” Rei asks, confused, but then his eyes widen. “Wait, you mean someone  _saw_  us!?”

“Yeah, I was trying to catch him-“

“What, was he just standing there watching us!? That’s strange and disturbing! I feel so violated, thinking someone was watching – it’s practically voyeurism! This is why I say we shouldn’t do those sorts of things in public, but you never listen to me-“

Rin ignores Rei’s continuing tirade, instead squinting his eyes and staring out across the beach, straining his eyes for any sign of the man. His search is fruitless, and eventually he’s stopped by Rei’s hand, waving in front of his face.

“Rin?”

Rin blinks, snapping out of it. He looks from the beach back to Rei, whose face is nakedly concerned, and he realizes he should give at least some explanation.

“That man looked like my father.”

* * *

 

Rin starts finding any excuse he can to go the beach.

Rei doesn’t like it, he knows. He’s laid out all the rational reasons why that man couldn’t have been his father. It was just coincidental, he tells Rin. When he learns how often Rin goes, scouring the shore for any sign of him, he begs Rin to let it go. To forget it.

Rin knows Rei does it out of worry, but he can’t get the memory of his father’s face out of his head. He has to find him again. He has to  _know_ , to be sure.

Sometimes, he sees the figure again. Usually he doesn’t, but each sighting only increases his determination, his desperation. He’s never seen him so close as the day under the pier, but he’s still gotten some mostly clear looks. 

The man looks too much like the father he’s seen in pictures, the features he’s pored over until he has them memorized, to not be him.

But the shadow will only stay for a moment, and then he’s gone, like he’s returned to the sea.

Rin wonders if he’s seeing a ghost. Rin wonders if he’s going crazy.

He has dreams about his father more often than ever. Sometimes good dreams. Sometimes nightmares. Often, he’s running down a beach, begging for his father to stop and wait for him.

He withdraws. His times grow worse. He stops talking to his friends. He stops talking to Sousuke. He doesn’t respond to Rei, only asking, “But what if, what if,” every time words are forced from his mouth. He’s followed by hushed whispers, speculations, rumors, concerns.

It’s two months since his first sighting when he suddenly decides he’s going to know for  _sure_  today, and he stands up from his bunk bed.

“Rin?”

Rin doesn’t look at Sousuke. He just walks to the door, not putting on his shoes, not even grabbing a coat to ward off the early winter chill.

“Rin, don’t go to the beach,” says Sousuke, and he can hear him coming down the ladder. “I don’t like how often you go down there.”

“Leave me alone, Sousuke,” he snaps, opening the door. A strong hand grabs his wrist, holds him.

“Rin, you have to stop this,” says Sousuke. “You need-“

Whatever Rin needs, Sousuke never gets to say.

Rin’s mind fills with white noise, clouding it, driving out all thought but that of the beach, where his father is waiting, and this  _thing_ , this enemy that is stopping him from reaching his goal. He can’t think, so he _acts_  instead.

He turns and aims a hard punch at Sousuke’s bad shoulder. Pain makes lights explode in Sousuke’s eyes, and he releases Rin, staggering back.

“Don’t stop me!” Rin yells, lunging forward, and he hits Sousuke again, and again. The pain makes Sousuke double over, unable to defend himself because Rin knows right where to hurt him, and he’s in too much shock to try and fight through the searing burning aching  _screaming_  of his shoulder that only triples with each blow.

He hits his knees. He passes out.

Rin slams the door and heads for the beach.

* * *

 

Rei feels a sense of heavy foreboding worse than he’s ever felt in his life.

He calls Rin’s phone again, and again gets no answer. So much for third time charm. Feeling his chest constricting in worry, he tries again. Relentless. He doesn’t even bother leaving messages for Rin’s voicemail to hear, hanging up each time the dry recording starts up.

Instinctively, he puts on his shoes and grabs his coat. He keeps telling himself there must be some rational explanation, Rin has his phone on silent for studying or he left it in Nitori’s room, but in his heart he knows his head is only lying to itself. Rin’s worrying behavior is finally reaching a head tonight. He can feel it.

He’s already started for the beach when someone finally answers the phone, slurring out a, “Hello?” and he breathes a sigh of relief.

“Rin, thank goodness, I thought-“

“S’not Rin.” The voice on the other end seems to be struggling for energy. Rei picks up his pace.

“Yamazaki-san?”

“Yeah. Rin left. Probably headed for the beach.”

Rei’s heart sinks to the bottom of his stomach. “Why didn’t you stop him!?”

“I tried. He knocked me unconscious.” There’s a huff from the other teen, but his voice doesn’t hold any malice, only worry. He knows, like Rei knows, that something is terribly wrong. “You have to catch him, Ryugazaki. I don’t know what he’s going to do.”

“I’m on my way,” Rei assures him, starting to run. “How long ago did he leave?”

“I don’t know. The phone is what finally woke me up.”

Rei mutters a curse under his breath. It’s not Sousuke’s fault, but he still wishes he had a better idea of the situation. “Thank you anyway, Yamazaki-san.”

“Yeah. I’m on my way too, but I think you’re the one who’s going to have to stop him.”

Rei wonders what stopping Rin might entail as he hangs up.

* * *

 

Rin’s father is waiting for him when he arrives.

He’s out in the surf, ignoring the waves that rush past him on their way to kiss the shore. When he sees Rin, he  _beams_ , and raises his arm, beckoning him on.

Rin doesn’t even bother with stripping out of his clothes, instead rushing straight into the sea. The water should feel cold, but it doesn’t. It should worry him that he’s going out into the ocean at night, but it doesn’t.

His father moves further and further away, until he hits a drop off and has to swim. And then, tossing a smile behind him, he dives into the water.

Rin hesitates when he hears Rei’s frantic voice from the beach.

Then he dives after his father.

* * *

 

Rei doesn’t bother taking his clothes off either as he rushes out into the water.

He hadn’t made it in time. By the time he arrived at the beach, Rin was already far out from shore, following something. Rei couldn’t see it clearly, it moved too fast, but he got the distinct impression that it was covered in seaweed.

Rei had screamed for him, begging him to stop, but Rin had paused only a moment before disappearing below the surface. Panicked, Rei took off after him, breaking into the butterfly as soon as he could, cursing his insufficient ability with the other strokes, cursing his slow speed, cursing his inadequacy at the moment he’s most needed.

He makes it to the spot where Rin disappeared and, without hesitation, dives after him.

* * *

 

Rin swims.

Down, down, down, until the light from the moon has faded away completely. He wonders how the sea can be so deep here. It seems to have no end.

And yet, up ahead, he can see his father, and that drives him on.

He never once thinks about how he should be out of air.

Finally, he comes to the floor of the sea. There, his father stops, stands before him, arms stretched out.

“Come here, Rin.”

“Dad,” Rin breathes, before rushing toward him. He doesn’t think about how he can run so effortlessly through the water. All he cares about is getting to his father.

And he does, crashing into him with a forceful hug. He’s solid under Rin’s cheek, and Rin starts to cry as his father wraps his big arms around him, arms he hasn’t felt hold him since he was a small child.

“It’s so good to see you again, Rin,” says his father. “I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Rin sobs, clutching onto his father’s shirt, reveling at the feel of him, real, solid, alive, here in a way he thought he could never be again. He can hear his heartbeat. “Why did you go?”

“I’m sorry, son. I had to.” His father strokes his hair soothingly, and Rin hiccups. “But it’s okay. I’m here now. We can be together.”

“We can?” Rin looks up at him, hope shining in his eyes.

“Yes, Rin,” says his father, not letting him go. “I won’t leave you this time.”

Rin buries his face in his father’s chest again, heaving out a shaky sob. He’s overwhelmed with happiness. He never dreamed such a day would come.

“RIN!”

It’s not his father’s voice.

“Who’s that?” snaps his father, sounding angry at the intrusion. Rin also turns his head to look, though he doesn’t have to. He knows that voice too well.

“It’s okay, Dad, it’s just Rei.” He lets go of his father with one arm so he can more properly turn, looking just in time to see Rei alight on the seabed, eyes wide with something that seems almost like horror.  _What’s with that look? Maybe he thinks Dad_ is _a ghost._  He smiles at his boyfriend, holding out a hand to him. “Oi, Rei! Come meet my dad!”

“Rin,” says Rei slowly, staying where he is. “That’s not your father.”

Rin frowns, eyebrows furrowed, but keeps his tone light. “What are you talking about, Rei? Can’t you see the family resemblance?”

“No, Rin-“

“Well, everyone always says I take after Mom-“

“That’s not what I mean! Rin, you have to see that… that <i>thing</i> for what it is!”

“Hush!”

Whatever rebuttal Rin had for Rei is cut off by his father’s shout. Rin looks from Rei to his father, who is <i>furious.</i>

“You, whoever you are, will leave now and let me have my reunion with my son in peace!”

“I don’t know what you want with him,” says Rei defiantly, “but I won’t leave him here with you!”

“Everyone just calm down,” says Rin, feeling something sick twist in his gut. “Dad, this is Rei, my boyfriend. I know it might not be what you wanted for me, but you’re going to like him, I-“

“No. He needs to leave,” snaps his father, and Rin flinches. But Rei stands his ground, not moving.

“Rin, you have to snap out of it! That isn’t your father!”

“It is-“

“Your father is  _dead_ , Rin,” says Rei, forcefully, and takes a step forward. His father takes a step back, dragging Rin with him, roughly.

“Dad, he’s not going to hurt us,” says Rin.

“He needs to stay  _back_.”

“You have to think!” Rei yells, and takes another step forward. “You have to remember! Remember what’s real, Rin! Remember what’s  _alive_!” Another.

“Rei…”

“ _I’m_  alive, Rin! Your mother, and your sister, and your friends, they’re all alive.” Each step punctuated with a step. “Your father is  _not alive_!”

The words echo around the deep reaches of the sea, and something in Rin snaps together.

His father is dead. He goes to the grave all the time. His father is never coming back, no matter how much he might wish for him too.

Rin looks down at the hand still around him, and sees a gray-green claw, webbing between each scaly digit.

He screams and jerks away, but his not-father grabs his other arm. He swings his face around to look at it, and sees it is some kind of  _creature_ , scaly skin, black eyes, a hood made of seaweed in place of hair. It sinks its claws in, and gives him a smile full of gleaming teeth, each one sharp like a needle. 

“Too late!” hisses the monster in triumph.

And then something slams into it, a fist, Rei’s. The thing jerks back, and Rei kicks it. Rin yanks his arm away, realizes the thing is physically weak, and maybe later he’ll think that is why it resorts to such tricks.

For now, all he does is hit it, and then Rei is grabbing his arm and suddenly they’re swimming  _up_.

Behind them, the creature shrieks in fury, and gives chase. They both kick with all their might, both to propel themselves on and to ward off the monster. One final connection between Rin’s foot and its head sends it sinking back down, wailing at the loss of its meal.

Rin has no time to feel triumphant. For the first time, he feels the burn of his empty lungs. His stroke turns even more frantic, as he clings to Rei’s hand, who is swimming with all the strength he has to get them to the surface.

Time seems to slow, then stand still. Rin’s mouth is forced open, and he sucks in water.

And then a hand grabs him and pulls him up, roughly, and he thinks maybe his father has come for him after all.

* * *

 

Sousuke doesn’t let either of them go until they’re well clear of the tideline, then he lets them both fall in the sand before sitting down between them. His shoulder is a persistent throbbing ache, but he ignores it. There will be time enough to worry about it once he’s sure the other two aren’t going to die.

Both of them cough up water, but it’s Rei who wakes up first, opening his eyes slowly to look at the sky. He’s lost his glasses in the water. Sousuke idly wonders if he has any spares.

“Rin!” he gasps, looking around frantically, and Sousuke taps his arm.

“Calm down. He’s here,” he gestures to his other side, “and he’s breathing.”

Rei reacts like he didn’t hear the second part, scuttling around Sousuke to kneel next to Rin, looking him over. But his own investigation proves Sousuke’s words true. Sighing in relief, he sits down properly, reaching out to card a hand through Rin’s wet and matted hair.

“What happened?” he asks.

“I should be asking  _you_  that,” says Sousuke, looking perturbed. “When I got here, you were swimming after him, and then you both went under. You were down there for one and a half, maybe two minutes before I found you both trying to swim back up.”

That didn’t seem like nearly enough time. Rei turns it all around in his head, trying to find a logical explanation, but his brain is hazy and tired and he can’t connect such a bizarre occurrence to any previous experiences or learning and… it’s simply too much to think about. He sets it aside for the time being.

“I don’t really know what happened. He thought he saw his father, he went after him… and then you found us.” It’s all of the truth he’s willing to tell.

Sousuke hesitates, like he doesn’t want to voice his thoughts. “You don’t think he was trying to-“

“No,” says Rei, firm. “He really did think he saw his father. That’s all.”

Sousuke nods, trusting Rei’s judgment. Rei seems to understand Rin better than he can, sometimes. “He’s still going to have a rough time when he wakes up.”

“I know.” Rei sighs, moving his hand from Rin’s hair to cup his cheek. He leans down to give Rin’s forehead a light kiss, one Sousuke respectfully looks away for. “He’s going to need both of us.”

Sousuke nods, seriously, and they lapse into silence, broken less than a minute later by Rin gasping awake, looking around as Rei had done. “Rei!?”

“Right here,” Rei says quickly, stroking Rin’s cheek with his thumb. Rin meets his eyes, then sits up, turning just enough to throw his arms desperately around Rei.

“I’m so sorry,” he sobs against Rei’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, I’m so-“

“It’s okay. We’re fine now,” Rei says soothingly, rubbing Rin’s back. “We’re alright.” He glances up to look for Sousuke, and sees the other boy has gotten up and walked a few feet off, to give them some room. He feels a rush of gratitude.

Rin’s quiet a moment, then whispers, “I really thought it was him. I  _wanted_  it to be him.” 

“I know. It’s not your fault,” Rei insists.

Rin is trembling, and while it’s cold and they’re both soaked, Rei knows there are other reasons behind his shaking. He holds Rin tight, whispering whatever comforting things he can think of, until Rin pulls away, looking around the beach. 

“Sousuke?”

Sousuke walks back over, looking down at him. “Yo.”

Rin struggles to his feet, ignoring Rei’s supporting hand as his boyfriend gets up with him. “Shit, Sousuke, I’m so sorry.” He hangs his head. “I can’t believe I… I can’t believe I did that.” He chokes on his words. “If you don’t want to… to be friends anymore-“

“You haven’t been yourself in weeks,” says Sousuke, cutting him off. He smiles, small but fond. “I was more worried about you.”

“Tch,” Rin huffs, but a new wave of tears overwhelms him. “You’re an idiot.”

“For worrying about you? Probably.” Sousuke rolls his eyes fondly. “You have time to make it up to me. But first we should go back before we freeze to death.”

Rei notices for the first time that he’s shivering. “Right.”

“And you should go home,” Sousuke adds, looking at Rei.

Rei looks at Sousuke, then looks at Rin, who isn’t meeting anyone’s eyes, still sniffling, rubbing his eyes as though trying to ward off tears.

“I think I’ll call my parents and tell them I’m staying with you two tonight. If that’s alright.”

Rin looks at him in shock, feeling a warmth in his heart. He wants to beg, plead, for Rei to do exactly that, he doesn’t want to be alone tonight, but all he does is nod and whisper, “That’s fine.” Rei gives him a loving smile and Rin has to look away.

“We’re okay,” Rei whispers as they make their way toward the Samezuka dorm after Sousuke. Rei keeps his arm securely around Rin, and Rin doesn’t protest. “We’re okay.”

“By the way, what happened to your arm, Rin?” asks Sousuke, glancing back over his shoulder, and Rin and Rei’s attention is brought to the gash on Rin’s arm, leaving his shirt sleeve ragged and bloody. It isn’t so bad that that he’s in immediate danger, but it would need stitches. They both stare at it a moment, and then Rin gives a tired laugh and says, “You probably wouldn’t believe us even if we told you.”

“Try me sometime.”

Rin and Rei meet each other’s eyes, and then Rin says, “You guys saved my life tonight. That’s all you really need to know.”

“Looking after you is a full time job,” says Sousuke nonchalantly, but Rei squeezes him tightly again and whispers, “We’re okay, Rin.”

And Rin believes it.

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a play on the idea that all the Matsuoka men die at sea due to a curse or some such and I was going to have Rin be passed out and Rei was going to wake him up with true love’s kiss or something but then idk a sea monster seemed way cooler in the end.
> 
> The answer to all your questions is “magic bullshit.”


End file.
